Investor Šantovky Tower has appealed against the decision of the magistrate

Olomouc – The company Office Park Šantovka has appealed against the decision of the building department of the Olomouc magistrate, which in November reaffirmed the existence of a protective zone around the urban heritage preservation area in the center of Olomouc. The company plans to build the controversial high-rise building Šantovka Tower in this part of the city, but according to the Ministry of Culture, the protective zone does not permit it. According to Richard Morávek, the managing director of Office Park Šantovka, the building department of the magistrate poorly justified its decision. The appeal will be reviewed by the regional office. The magistrate informed about this on the official bulletin board.

According to the Ministry of Culture, high-rise buildings cannot be constructed in the protective zone of the urban heritage preservation area. However, the company Office Park Šantovka has long questioned the existence of this zone, claiming that the 76-meter-high Šantovka Tower will not be located in the protected heritage area. They have asked the magistrate to clarify the unclear situation regarding the land locations.

In October 2017, the magistrate decided that the parcels for Šantovka Tower are in the protective zone of the reservation, which was duly declared on July 27, 1987. However, Office Park Šantovka claims that the protective zone was assigned to the urban heritage preservation area, the declaration of which in 1971 was not published in the Collection of Laws, thus it legally did not come into existence. The urban reservation was supposedly correctly declared only at the end of 1987, but without the protective zone.

In the appeal addressed to the regional office, Morávek claims that the magistrate did not proceed correctly in assessing the new request. According to Morávek, the argument that the town hall does not have the authority to retroactively review the decisions of the city national committee from 1987 does not hold. The magistrate incorrectly based its decision rejecting the request for clarification of the existence of the protective zone on an earlier verdict of the Supreme Administrative Court, according to Morávek.

According to Morávek, the NSS (Supreme Administrative Court) decided on the legal existence of a cultural monument in a different dispute, while in Olomouc, the dispute concerns the existence of the protective zone of the heritage reservation. Morávek argues that the legal regulations concerning protective zones differ significantly from those regarding cultural monuments. Therefore, according to him, the conclusions of the NSS cannot be used in determining the legal relationship to the protective zone.

Years ago, the Ministry of Culture prohibited the construction of high-rise buildings in the protective zone of the heritage reservation in Olomouc, which was reflected in the 2014 land-use plan. However, the court later annulled the height regulation, stating that the permitted height of new buildings in the center of Olomouc needs to be better justified in the land-use plan. The municipal council, however, did not discuss the planned amendment to the land-use plan, which was supposed to establish height limits that would prevent the construction of Šantovka Tower.

The construction of Šantovka Tower has been discussed in Olomouc for years. Heritage conservationists and some experts disagree with it, arguing that it would damage the historic panorama of the city. The company Office Park Šantovka claims the opposite. In the summer, the company obtained a land-use decision for its project, which is an important preliminary step towards obtaining a building permit.